Guardino’s

Really Fresh and Good Clam Chowder. I went online and google what must do or eat in San Fran and this place showed up. Its a food or market stand. Came here and got the Clam Chowder inside the bread cup. Unfortunately the bread was sourdough and I don’t like sourdough. Darn I paid extra for nothing. Other than that the Chowder was really good.
The lobster roll looked really good but for $ 20, I didn’t end up getting it. I find it bit too pricey.
There are no place to sit if you are looking for a place to sit down and eat. If you are lucky, you might find a bench outside or around the Fisherman wharf sign.
I highly recommend this place if you are visiting San Fran.
Also note that all restaurants in the area claim they have the best chowder. But only this one showed up when googling.

$ 8 clam chowder. The clam chowder taste was mediocre, you can taste the distinct seafood flavor, BUT when I saw them pour the soup into my bread bowl, they threw in LARGE chunks of bread in with the soup. When I found a place to sit and eat the soup, you can see the large chunks of bread that became a little smaller after soaking up the clam chowder. They should not be doing this, hence the low ratings. I will definitely try a different clam chowder shop next time I am in the area since there are 10+ right on that street alone.

For a sidewalk stand, this place rocks. You should try a crab sandwich. It may seem pricey, but it is really enough crab for two people. The perfect meal to take out on the wharf and eat while smelling the salt air and watching street performers. It’s family-​owned and operated since 1908 — my son knows one of the Guardinos from Lincoln High.

In San Francisco at the Fisherman’s Warf and clam chowder was a MUST! Saw this place with a large group of people ordering so figured I’d give it a try. I got the clam chowder in the Sourdough bowl. Price was about average in the surrounding places. Honestly though the clam chowder would have been the only thing I’d order there. Everything else was crazy expensive. The clam chowder was pretty darn good though. The sourdough bowl was just alright. When eaten with the clam chowder was good but after by itself not do much. Pretty much just tossed it. I’d go there again but just get a regular bowl.

Liked the fact that they are the first place open
here. Good chowder at 0645 — the best!

visited the beautiful San Francisco from SoCal and wanted to have a quick chowder bowl along the pier and this place wasn’t a let down!
my friends and I all ordered a chowder bowl and it was ready in about 5 minutes. the soup was already made and the bread bowls were already cut out. the taste was very delicious. it wasn’t salty as I thought, which I liked. I topped it off with some black pepper and crackers~ which made it extra delicious. finished the chowder bowl in about 15 mins and it was honestly satisfying. it was about $ 7 and some change for one :3

Ordered the Lobster roll. 19.95
Now I will Tastify
No complaints about the cost
Lobster salad was bland
The bread was tough, cold, and boring
(I had to rip at the bread to get a piece off)
Which made lobster salad squeeze out
Question to ponder :
How can you be in an area that is known for amazing bread and serve those rolls. Right across the street is a HUGE bakery making great bread. Just sayin.
The Roll .IS HALF THE SANDWICH.
Especially in a Lobster ROLL
RIGHT ?? At least it is for me .
Anyway. I always ask myself one question after I eat somewhere .
Will I return? My answer has two letters in it

I ordered a shrimp and crab cup for $ 10.25 and thought is was good. I like that Guardino’s gives customers cocktail sauce and melted butter.

Ordered at Guardino’s—
I was very excited to come here since I really love seafood, especially crabs and oysters. But I am very disappointed with my orders. I ordered clam chowder, lobsters claws cocktail and the lobster sandwich.
Lobster claws are fresh but quite rubbery in texture. Lobster sandwich is bad. It’s like shredded lobster with some chunks of claws mixed with tons of mayo and lacks flavor. Bread is just tough.
Clam chowder so far is the best tasting of all. Not so thick nor thin in consistency and the flavor is just right. It’s enjoyable to eat even when with the fairly hot weather.
Might go back for the clam chowder.
Vendors are very delightful!

This place is a hole in the wall. The clam chowder was fantastic. Ate at Bubba Gumps for dinner. Will do a review for that place after.
Looking for some great seafood for a pretty good price, stop by here. Again, small place with really good food for you seafood lovers. Clam chowder for me.

service was okay, small shack set up on the corner. the chowder was all right. had too many clam chunks and very watery could use some more seasoning

The crab sandwich was fairly bland and not something that I would recommend. I gave it 2 stars just because my girlfriends sandwich had one decent chunk of crab meat in it.

We love this place!
ATMOSPHERE:
They have an outdoor display which houses their crabs, and other seafood, and cooking area. There’s a small shop across the sidewalk which houses their business, with a tiny seating area at the front which fits maybe 6 people at best.
FOOD:
Dungeness Crab — OMG, so delicious and fresh. They crack the whole crab into pieces for you. Just dip in the drawn butter and go to town! Don’t look at the price because it’s all worth it.
Clam Chowder — Super yum! Thick and creamy, with potatoes and clams. Get it either in a sourdough bread bowl or cup. They even sell a canned version!
Calamari — Crispy and savory rings and tentacles. And it just tastes better being at Fisherman’s Wharf!
SERVICE:
These guys are so busy, don’t expected to be waited on hand & foot. It’s a crazy market-​style friendly if you know what I mean.
OVERALL:
The best food and atmosphere on the Wharf.

I don’t normally go to Fisherman’s Wharf for crab. But since I was in the area and with it being Dungeness Crab season, I had a craving for a good Crab Sandwich. Pretty much knowing that the best place on the Wharf would be the Crab Stands, Guardino’s was the first one I encountered and got my attention with their Crab Sandwiches on display.
The Crab Sandwich certainly was a beauty (
). Sourdough roll STUFFED with crab, mayo, and topped with claw meat. The crab was so goood! That’s one thing you can guarantee around the Wharf is that the seafood is totally fresh. The only thing that bothered me was the sourdough roll, which I’m not really a fan of, it was tough for me and by the time I finished my sandwich my jaw was a little sore. I would’ve preferred something like a brioche roll like I’ve had at Sam’s and The Lobsta Truck. But overall, it was a solid sandwich. The price for the sandwich that day was around $ 18, which may seem a lot, but not too bad considering that when it’s not crab season, the price can be double that.
If you’re around Fisherman’s Wharf during crab season, definitely check out the Guardino’s Crab Stand and try their Crab Sandwich. You won’t be disappointed!

Don’t be fooled by all of the yummy crab sandwiches in the window. We ordered a shrimp and crab sandwich and both were super super salty. The bread was tough. It was not worth the $ 10. I’m glad we didn’t splurge for the $ 16 dungeness crab!

Unilocal’s 365 Review Challenge 2014 #155 — #365
This place is huge and located right by the wharf, walking distance to the dock and the boardwalk. There’s an area where they make fresh sourdough bread and a machine that transfers the dough to the prepping area. It was fun to watch them made fresh San Franciscan sourdough bread.
We were visiting San Francisco and were walking by Guardino’s and decided to have a taste of San Francisco. I ordered the infamous Clam Chowder and it was chewy and the texture was so smooth. Tasting the clams was a real treat giving it that San Francisco feel.
Next time I’ll try more off the menu, maybe some seafood or sandwhichs. We were in a hurry to view the rest of the wharf, so I will take note of Guardino’s.

My sister and I stopped here to share a Dungeness crab sandwich. We decided it was just ok. We did like that the Dungeness crab sandwich had bigger chunks of crab than the rock crab sandwich. Also, the chucks of claw meet on top were nice too. However, the sandwich was very mayonnaise-​ey and hard to eat given the very firm and chewy roll it was served on. The sandwich was served with a lemon wedge so we used the acidic lemon juice to balance out the fat of the mayo a little better. It was fine but not something I’d crave. I would probably rate my experience with only two stars except I know that growing up on the waters of the Chesapeake Bah my standards for seafood are unintentionally high.

I have walked by this row of sandwich stores in the past a few times but I forget every time I’m in the area because I always want a sandwich but find myself to be too full. NOT THIS TIME.
Wasn’t sure what to order but ultimately chose the Rock Crab and Shrimp sammy for $ 9ish bucks. The sandwich is split in half with the two meats on either side so why not basically try two halves of a sandwich?
Pretty A-​okay/​meh sandwich. The fillings were not terrible but was missing a lot of flavor and had more mayo than necessary for me. Rock Crab is not as juicy as other kinds of crab so it was not as satisfying as I thought. The shrimp is eh. The bread is a sourdough roll but COLD because they pull the sandwiches from the display case. Not sure if they can make a fresh one for you or if they can toast stuff but I wish I had asked but it didn’t occur to me at the time.
Overall…glad I tried it but not getting it again. May come back to get the lobster rolls.

Guardino’s, touted to have been there since 1908, has obviously lost the family recipe for clam chowder. If you have ever in your life had real New England Clam Chowder, you will spit this out. Or if you are really hungry, you will chalk it up to a poor choice and finish the tiny bowl not worth its price or even half of it. The consistency is way too watery, the clams (if you can find them) have to be canned and there is no attention to the actual flavor whatsoever.
When there are four chowder spots staring you in the face and you have never even been down to Fisherman’s Wharf, I guess it’s easiest to just choose the first one in line. Unfortunately, that was not the best method for making the choice. They give you oyster crackers or offer it in a bread bowl for a reason — these products soak up the water in the bowl and let you enjoy the cracker or bread, thereby masking the very poor excuse for a bowl of chowder.
We saw someone getting crabs though and they looked fresh. I hope he was happy.

We were looking for a quick snack… and knew all these stands were tourist traps. We chose Guardino’s because it had the longest line.
Super fast service, but $ 6 went down the drain pretty quickly. Bread bowl was unimpressive and tasted like it had been sitting around for a while. Chowder was served lukewarm and seemed like it was out of a can (probably true). A combination of the two made a disappointing snack.
Skip the stands and head over to Boudin. It’s popular and hyped up because it’s actually good!
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